I was wondering a few things and would like to see added to this helicopter.

1) Why does this helicopter not have the ability to auto rotate?? RTF's that are half the price of this one have auto rotation and without it any crash from altitude will have a bad ending!!! I think that the TT designers should come up with a add on that will give this helicopter the ability to auto rotate. Something that should have been on it from the beginning!!

2) If this is a 2.4GHZ system why is it unable to use the Spectrum radio system?? They were the company that started the 2.4 GHZ systems, you can use all the other brand's of radios just not Spectrum. Is it because the Spectrum parent company is a competator to TT???

3) The ability to set up the radio with out having to put out extra money for this software, or at least include the software so that pilots that know what they are doing can change settings on the radio!!

Hii could be all wet but ( and someone please correct me if i am wrong ), with the software , you can program the upper left switch to be throttle hold , you can also program in negative pitch , so if i am not mistaken you can set it up to auto with the software , i know it is $40.00 extra , but it is really needed for this bird , cheers

If you do not have the one way bearing in the main spur gear and a way to control the tail rotor and the servos then all of that does not make any difference, you have to have the proper hardware in the helicopter before you can have auto rotation.

After spending quite a bit of time on the innovator web site I have found that there is a one way sleeve in the main gear but no bearing was to be found, now unless TT has come up with a new way of getting the gear to work in auto rotate there should be a bearing in there. Could anyone with a 530 and some experience at working on helicopters look at the main gear and see if there is a one way in there!!! In all my years of building helicopters I have never seen just a one way sleeve. I am sorry to harp on this subject so much but I really need this information so that I can make a informed decision about purchasing this helicopter, or getting a different brand!!!$600.00 is a lot of pocket change to go spend blindly!!!! And since there is no hobby store around me that sells this I have to rely on the people that already have it in their posession to get my answers from.Thank You!!

I know that this probably belongs in the tech forum but I did not want to start a new thread there when I had this one going!!! Sorry

Hi Moei am on vacation and do not have the heli in front of me , but to the best of my knowledge there is a oneway bearing in the maingear , and from what i understand it has a non driven tail , hope this is some help , cheers

Moe & Copperclad,Welcome to the Innovator Forum ! Probably still a little slow for your liking but bound to grab some traffic. The heli R&D Team will show up once in a while here, and will add to my posts (and others) whenever felt necessary.

Moe, regarding your questions. I'll do my best and try to keep it short. 1.The MD530 is designed for autorotation. However, the lightweight foam blades on the out-of-the-box MD530 and low rpm (default max. 1800 rpm) greatly limit success for such maneuvers. The drive system on both the MD530 & Expert versions is identical and autorotation is possible on both machines : it's just much more difficult on small-size helis, and much more so on the MD530 than the Expert.Autorotation on an Innovator is a little different from an E325 or Raptor 50 & above. When the Innovator performs autorotation, the tail rotor does not rotate because it is driven by the motor directly and not transfered via the set of autorotation tail drive gear. When the motor stops, the tail rotor also stops.

Copperclad is also correct, autorotation must be activated via the Innovator PC Software first. Having the autorotation turned off at factory settings is a safety feature aimed at limiting autorotation among novice pilots who may hit the hold switch accidentally when flying the MD530.

2.I will refrain on commenting on brand's particulars but Spectrum simply did not offer radio systems with changeable 2.4G modules at the time. Innovator / ACE RC / TT has developed 2.4G modules for JR / Futaba / Hitec radios allowing you to fly your Innovator with one of these systems. For example, if you wish to use a JR transmitter you will need to: Plug in the appropriate module into your JR transmitter, set the transmitter modulation to PPM, then switch the Transmitter Manufacturer Setting located on the left side of the Innovator control box to the "JR" position.Please always do a double-check with the latest models for compatibility but all should be good.

On a side note. Any brand involved in the RC hobby is a competitor to TT ! We treat everyone with the respect that a competitor deserves, and keep an open eye on everything they do to ensure our products are compatible as best as we can. It is simply not feasible at all times. R&D / manufacturing priorities must be made.

3.This has been a controversy from Day-1. The Innovator Team feels that the pc software remains a great offer price-wise vs functionality, even as an optional item. As a moderator I can not at this time comment on future offer, but this is the place where pros & cons on what is currently offered or what should eventually be offered can be discussed freely.

Thank you so much for your input that clears up many questions and has helped me decide to get the MD530.

Update 9/10/09

With everyone's help I made my up my mind today and ordered my MD-530 plus I got lucky and found one that included a free second battery and a free set of rotor blades!!! I should have it sometime next week, have to wait till tomorrow before it ships, ordered it to late to get it shipped today. I cannot wait to get it, will order the software sometime soon, Thank you all for the help it was great!!!!

After spending a few days with my new helicopter I can think of a few things that it could use but will probably never get.

1)A much more efficient charging system that will give it a faster charging time, as it is because I have to use a 12 Volt lead calcium battery to run the charger, I can only charge one battery before I need to recharge my source battery because there is not enough voltage to charge my second battery, since it takes around 45 minutes to charge each pack plus a hour to trickle charge my source battery between charging the battery packs I am spending 2.5 hours to charge two packs. I know that there is a AC/DC power adaptor for a additional charge, but the key word here is additional charge. I cannot see why for $600.00 USD that some of this stuff could not be included with it!!

2)This helicopter out of the box is useless, RTF means just that Ready to fly and this is not. The rotor blades are badly out of balance and the helicopter has no weight to get the CG correct so you have to find small lead pieces with double sided tape to get the CG correct. The 1500 RPM head speed might be fine for most but at 6035 feet above sea level, all it does is sit on the ground and spin the rotors, the 1700 RPM is just enough to get it about two feet off the ground. A higher head speed with foam blades is impossible, and again without the software you cannot change the head speed, again at extra cost!! I know that they need to make money but RTF means RTF and this is NOT RTF, fortunately I have been in this hobby long enough to find work arounds for this problem but your basic NOOB would not have that know how!!!

3)This helicopter needs stronger landing gear, and not the flimsy things that are on it now, there is no way this could withstand any kind of stiff landing at all, it would break in half!!!

4) The QC could be a little better, the decals on this helicopter look like they were put on by a three year old kid and the body held together by tape is very bush league!!! Come on if you are going to charge $600.00 for a helicopter at least give us something that looks like it is worth that much money, I could name at least a half dozen RTF helicopters that are cheaper but built better than this!!! Even the TT Mini Titan is a better helicopter than this!!!!

Other than that, after a few days of tweaking and some creative work this thing flies great now, I guess after I can save up more money I will have to get a few things to make it even better. When you are on disability you only have so much to spend for fun!!

I know that I am critical of this helicopter but I believe that if I spent the money for it then I have the right to say what is right with it and what is wrong with it, TT makes great helicopters in the Raptor series but this is sorely lacking in many ways, the main reason I purchased this is because I have had a Raptor but this is nothing like the Raptor quality!!!